Archive for the ‘UK’ Category

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Hey folks…

April 2nd, 2008 by Alex

So about a year after saying I’d post on Logelevel.com and offer my thoughts on all things sports, I’m finally living up to my word. Much of my enjoyment with sports is derived from UK football and basketball, but I’ll offer my 2 cents on the Cincinnati Reds and (gulp) Bengals and whatever is stuck in my crawl at the time.

One quick story that isn’t very excited to probably anyone but myself, but last Tuesday at Harry’s I ran into the irreplaceable Mr. Wildcat — Bill Keightley. I said hello as he passed and shook his hand. He gave me a firm shake with a big smile and say, “Hey, kid.” To say it made my day is an understatement. I recently wondered how many years he had left in him on the bench, but I never imagined he’d soon be gone forever. He’ll long live in the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere, and I feel lucky for my chance encounter with him.

Posted in MLB, UK | No Comments »

So long, Mr. Wildcat

March 31st, 2008 by Travis

On the University of Kentucky basketball’s version of Mount Rushmore, there would be at least three faces, only one of which would be a coach or player. Legendary coach Adolph Rupp would be the George Washington of UK’s Mount Ruppmore – the no-brainer – but the next two choices would be radio legend Cawood Ledford and equipment manager Bill Keightley.

The fourth or fifth faces may be up for debate — the players are innumerable – but those first three are undeniable. Rupp made UK basketball what it was, is, and always will be. Ledford was the voice, eyes and ears of the UK fan base for nearly four decades. He and Keightley are the only non-players and non-coaches to have their names or jerseys raised to the rafters.

Sadly, Mr. Wildcat, Bill Keightley, died on Monday. The 81-year-old was attending the Cincinnati Reds’ Opening Day game when he fell and sustained internal injuries that led internal bleeding that could not be stopped. According to BRett Dawson of the Courier-Journal, Keightley’s internal bleeding also resulted form an undiagnosed tumor on his spine.

Keightley was UK’s equipment manager for 48 years, serving Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith and, this year Billy Gillispie. His impact on the program may have been far less than all thsoe coaches and the players he assisted, but he was a fixture in the program, a team mascot, the face of the fan base for almost five decades.

We’ll miss the guy the same as UK fans miss Rupp or Basil Hayden or Ralph Beard. We didn’t cheer for Mr. Wildcat as a player or coach, we cherished what he represented. He was what all in Cat Nation viewed themselves as — UK’s No. 1 fan.

I was in college when Cawood died and remember writing a breaking news story the day he passed. It was one of the saddest but most proud days of my career.  As interegal as Rupp was to UK’s legacy, Cawood and Mr. Keightley are easily the most popular people with any association to the program.  Keightley is the only Wildcat who may be mourned and missed as much as Cawood.

And that’s why two guys who never took a shot, made a pass or drew up a play are among the most hallowed of UK basketball personalities.

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | No Comments »

Rounding out the roster

March 27th, 2008 by Travis

March Madness often leads to April Sadness or May Heydays. They are two of the most important recruiting months of the basketball season. They probably lack behind the summer months and November in sheer activity, but for the elite prospects who hold out or can’t make up their minds until the final moments these next several weeks are very intriguing.

Kentucky fans can look no further than last April and May when they held their breath as Patrick Patterson remained in limbo. Ron Mercer was another major May recruiting coup.

Again, the Cats still have a scholarship available late in the recruiting game and several players on their radar. Their top target may be (or may not, depending on how you want to interpret coach Billy Gillispie’s intentions) McDonald’s All-American Scotty Hopson, the scoring guard from Hopkinsville, Ky. Hopson originally committed to Mississippi State but never signed his National Letter of Intent. The final signing day is May 21. (more…)

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, Recruiting, UK | No Comments »

Sadly, hibernation arrives

March 24th, 2008 by Travis

In a season with so many dreadful lows — home losses to Garder-Webb, UAB and San Diego and blowout losses to North Carolina, Indiana, Louisville and Vanderbilt — the assessment of basketball coach Billy Gillispie’s first season at Kentucky through Blue Goggles may come as a surprise:

I enjoyed this season more than any season since Keith Bogans sprained his ankle. And for that reason alone it was an utter success through these Blue Goggles.

Sure, Tubby’s leftovers were preseason Top 25 picks, so maybe they didn’t achieve any more than initially expected, or maybe they even failed to advance as far as some expected. And, Billy G’s critics will point directly in his face in attributing blame for the rash of injuries that plagued the Cats.

Yes, his practices at the Joe Craft Center were more like gladiator matches at The Colosseum. Yes, he practiced ON gamedays. Yes, he played players 35-plus minutes per game.

But I looked forward to every game, especially after the scrappy Cats bounced back from the loss to Louisville to upset Vandy. (more…)

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | 1 Comment »

Andre’ is in a free-fall

March 18th, 2008 by jeb

Looks like Andre’ Woodson’s draft stock is falling fast.  From MMQB (Link)

Fourth through sixth rounds: Eric Ainge, Tennessee; Andre Woodson, Kentucky; Matt Flynn, LSU; Dennis Dixon, Oregon and Joshua Johnson, San Diego.

Of all the players here, Dixon’s the most intriguing. He’s rehabbing the surgically repaired ACL in his left knee, hoping to work out for scouts in early April and do most of what the pros need to see. Woodson needs to have a good predraft experience with some teams to come out of his free-fall; scouts think he’s a guy who will need max protection because of mediocre mobility. Flynn? Not on many radar screens, but he’ll make someone a good third-string guy while he works 25-hour days adapting to the pro game.

Back in November, King projected that Woodson would be the first QB selected. (Link)

Posted in College Football, UK | No Comments »

Ha Ha

March 17th, 2008 by jeb

nelson_for_loge.gif

Jay Bilas - I don’t think there’s any way that Kentucky can get in unless they win their conference tournament. They’re ten and nine.

Posted in College Basketball, UK | No Comments »

Start sweating

March 16th, 2008 by Travis

 

The NCAA Tournament bubble felt a lot more comfortable on Thursday — even Friday as late as 9 p.m. And even though all the Bracketologists seem to have already made UK a lock before Saturday afternoon’s shamockery against Georgia, I’m still on pins and needles.

The way I figure, prior to Sunday’s championship games there are already at least 17 automatic bids taken up by bubble teams or lower: George Mason, Oral Roberts, San Diego, Cornell, Siena, Belmont, Cal State-Fullerton, Austin Peay, Boise State, Maryland-Baltimore County, Portland State, American, Winthrop, Texas-Arlington, Mount Saint Mary’s, Coppin State and Mississippi Valley State.

That means the top 48 teams should make the 65-team tournament.

So, I tried to objectively rank all the teams that might gain ANY consideration, and you can see the rankings after the jump.

(more…)

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | 2 Comments »

“Never gonna keep ‘em down”

March 9th, 2008 by Travis

Sunday’s roundhouse knockout of the Florida Gators would make ultimate underdog Daniel LaRussa proud.

The win may very well clinch an NCAA Tournament berth for the PersistiCats, who were written off each week since December as injuries and losses mounted. One more win in the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday would make it a lock. But if Sunday’s loss put the Gators in their body bag, then the win will be all the more sweeter.

So and ode to the Cats, especially our underdog comeback Cats (seniors Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford) who never gave up:

Try to be best
‘Cause you’re only a man
And a man’s gotta learn to take it

Try to believe
Though the going gets rough
That you gotta hang tough to make it

History repeats itself
Try and you’ll succeed

Never doubt that you’re the one
And you can have your dreams!

You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ow-own

Fight ‘til the end
Cause your life will depend
On the strength that you have inside you

Ah you gotta be proud
starin’ out in the cloud
When the odds in the game defy you

Try your best to win them all
and one day time will tell
when you’re the one that’s standing there
you’ll reach the final bell!

You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ho-how-ho-own

You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ow-own

Fight ‘til you drop
never stop
can’t give up
Til you reach the top (FIGHT!)
you’re the best in town (FIGHT!)
Listen to that sound
A little bit of all you got
Can never bring you down

You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | 2 Comments »

Jay Bilas Brings the Pain Part II

March 7th, 2008 by jeb

If you have Insider you might check out his post on ESPN.com today.  It can basically be summed up as Kentucky hasn’t beaten anyone so they shouldn’t be in the tourney.  His logic is a bit fuzzy at times.

He starts the whole thing with

I will say this again … the only objective standard in sports is winning.

But later he looks at UK’s margin of victory which totally contradicts the whole “only standard is winning” argument.

In addition, Kentucky’s margin of victory this season has been only +3.4 overall, and in the SEC it is +0.3.

He also writes

Alabama is the only team in the RPI top 250 that Kentucky has beaten by double digits in the SEC.

Agin this contradicts the “only standard is winning” argument.

He then ends his part about UK with this

Consider this: If you accept that the NCAA Tournament is filled with really good teams, shouldn’t a team have to prove it can beat a really good team? The only teams in the NCAA Tournament that get to play lesser teams are the high seeds that are playing against automatic qualifiers. The last few teams in will have to play RPI top 50 teams in the first round. Therefore, isn’t it important to have proven that you can beat that caliber of team?

It would have been nice if he had noted that UK has proven it can beat teams in the RPI top 50 with wins over  #1 Tennesse, #7 Vandy, #42 Arkansas, and #43 Mississippi

Related Post: Jay Bilas Brings the Pain

Posted in UK | 1 Comment »

Judgment Day

March 6th, 2008 by Travis

Sunday is Judgment Day. If the University of Kentucky loses on Senior Day at Rupp Arena, being swept by the Florida Gators, the Wildcats can kiss an NCAA at-large berth good-bye.

Maybe, if they somehow slipped to the third seed and ended up with three wins in the Southeastern Conference Tournament before losing the title game, they might undo a loss on Sunday. But that road would go through Alabama/Auburn, Arkansas and likely Tennessee (but maybe LSU/Ole Miss or South Carolina). They’ve played Tennessee well, but I like their odds of advancing that far better if they rest on Thursday, play Ole Miss/LSU or Georgia on Friday and either Mississippi State, Florida or Auburn/Alabama on Saturday.

But that scenario hinges on a win Sunday. Still, unlike others, I don’t think a win Sunday guarantees a bid. It would vault the Cats ahead of Florida and into the NCAA Tournament for the time-being. But they still need at least one more win in the SEC Tournament to lock down that bid, which would make a run to the SEC title game unnecessary. (more…)

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | No Comments »

So, Who’s Ready For Spring Football?

February 29th, 2008 by Will

Sorry, Tru, I commend your resiliency, but the Patrick Patterson news has pretty much ruined my weekend.

What makes this so difficult to swallow is that Kentucky was on the verge of completing a remarkable in-season turnaround. Gardner-Webb . . . San Diego . . . blowing the lead against UAB . . . being simply out-classed by North Carolina, Indiana, and Louisville . . . the 40-point thrashing in Nashville — somehow, it was all going to culminate with a positively mind-blowing bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Now? Uh, not so much.

We’re left with ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi crushing poor Lance from Corbin’s dreams:

Lance (Corbin Ky): Joe, let’s just say that UT does hold home-court advantage and beats UK (respectfully, let’s say by 10), and UK wins out against S. Carolina & Florida (18-11 and 12-4 sec) and has a good showing in the SEC Tournament. Where do you see UK’s seeding? I’m thinking between 7-12 depending on SEC Tournament showing. Also, if you were a 5, 6 or 7 seeded team how scared would you be to see that Kentucky was your first round opponent seeded at 12, 11 or 10? UK has really played well in the SEC this year (with exception of @ Vandy, but EVERY team has a off-night), and yes I understand that the SEC as a whole is a bit down this year to past years but, UT, UK, VANDY, MISS ST, FLORIDA and maybe ARKANSAS could give about any team fits on a neutral court site. GO BIG BLUE NATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SportsNation Joe Lunardi: (4:08 PM ET ) This may all be moot given today’s news about Patrick Patterson. It’s hard to imagine UK getting/staying on a roll without him.

[Link] Ouch, Joe. But, unfortunately, it’ll be surprising if Lunardi’s proven wrong. Even with a healthy Patterson, we were decided underdogs against Tennessee, and the South Carolina and Florida games were far from gimmes. Candidly, I don’t expect to win any of those games now. Not saying it can’t happen — crazier things have — but I’m significantly lowering the bar.

Where do we do go from here? Even if we lose out, I’d think an NIT bid would still be a possibility. But, as a UK fan, I’m unfamiliar with NIT qualifications.

So, yea, what about spring football? Will Curtis Pulley beat out Michael Hartline for the quarterback job? Would an “I *heart* Hartline” shirt be cool or not cool? And just who will Pulley or Hartline be throwing to?

Onward and upward!

Posted in College Basketball, College Football, UK | No Comments »

‘Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays’

February 27th, 2008 by jeb

caseofthemondays.jpg

A lot is being made about UK’s refusal to move the UK – UofL football game to Monday right now.

I never thought I would be saying this, and I hate the fact that it’s come to this, but we should drop the series. It’s obvious that this is what Kentucky wants, and if it’s going to be like this every year - and at this point why should any of us believe that it isn’t - then the game is going to become far more trouble than it’s worth. (Link)

I honestly think that Barnhart is just trying to stick it to the Cardinals any way he can these days. (Link)

Truth be told, UK’s reluctance to acquiesce to U of L’s wish — the Cards want the Monday night affair — has more to do with the prickly relationship between the cross-state rivals than anything else. (Link)

While most people think UK’s doing this just to stick it to Louisville I’m not so sure. After all UK did acquiesce to moving the basketball game pretty quickly. I actually think it comes down to two things.

The first being UK truly doesn’t want a four day turnaround for Norfolk State. Brooks knows that no matter what the circumstances UK should win this game. But it’s only been the last couple of years that UK being favored has translated to on the field success. A loss against Louisville, while crushing to the fans, would not derail the season; however losing at home to Norfolk State would. To this point Eric Crawford writes:

That’s a bit shaky. It’s no different from playing a Thursday night game after a Saturday game. The turnaround is the same. What is different is the night of the week. (Link)

But UK doesn’t typically play Thursday night games. When they did last year they were embarrassed by a team they should have been able to play with.

The second thing that is being overlooked is that unlike UofL, UK under Rich Brooks typically doesn’t factor TV exposure into their decision making.  As John Clay notes:

Louisville has already shown it would play a football game at 3 a.m. in the Freedom Hall parking lot if ESPN asked. Kentucky has already shown it could care less (a) what Louisville wants or (b) if there are any TV cameras at all on hand for the annual rivalry game. (Link)

While this position goes against the grain the on the field results back up Brooks. After all Louisville has been willing to play anytime just to be on TV but that exposure hasn’t translated to better recruiting classes.

Finally in regards to Rick Bozich’s comment:

Schedule the game for Labor Day Night. If Kentucky doesn’t show up, mark it down as a forfeit. (Link)

Maybe if Louisville wanted to play on a Monday so bad they should have put that in the contract. After all it looks a bit odd that the so-called best AD in the world — Tom Jurich — keeps getting out maneuvered by Mitch in regards to football scheduling.

Posted in College Football, UK | No Comments »

Knocking on the bubble

February 25th, 2008 by Travis

 

The last six at-large bids in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology at ESPN.com:

-UAB (19-8, 0-1 top 50, 4-3 top 100, 7-3 last 10, 68th RPI, 130th Strength of schedule) 

-Arizona State  (17-9, 4-5 top 50, 6-7 top 100, 3-7 L10, 70th RPI, 79th SOS)

-Davidson (20-6, 0-3 vs Top 50, 0-5 vs top 100, 10-0 L10, 61st in RPI, 158th SOS)

-Florida (20-7, 1-4 top 50, 3-6 top 100, 5-5 L10, 60th RPI, 115th SOS)

-New Mexico (22-6, 0-3 top 50, 5-4 top 100, 8-2 L10, 44th RPI, 149th SOS).

-Ohio State (17-10, 1-8 top 50, 3-8 top 100, 5-5 L10, 54th RPI, 40th SOS)

So, how do the Cats stack up?

-Kentucky (15-10, 3-5 top 50, 3-8 top 100, 8-2 L10, 65th RPI, 19th SOS)

I don’t think they should be in ahead of any of those teams RIGHT NOW — UAB and Florida beat them, plus Ohio State beat Florida — and it looks like the UAB loss might end up being a bigger loss than San Diego or Gardner-Webb. (more…)

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | No Comments »

Well, We Couldn’t Really Begin Spring Practice Without Knowing Where We Stand

February 23rd, 2008 by Will

SEC Football Power Rankings in February, huh?

If you’re curious, ESPN.com’s Chris Lowe has Kentucky at No. 11 — in front of only Vanderbilt.

What we know: Rich Brooks has restored credibility back to Kentucky football.
What we don’t know: Is there life after Andre’ Woodson?
How the Wildcats can get to Atlanta: Buying a ticket would be their best bet.

[Link]

In his overview of Spring Football in the Conference, Lowe says the positions to watch at Kentucky are quarterback and wide receiver. I’d have to agree.

Posted in Allenby for Heisman!, College Football, UK | No Comments »

Wading through a busy couple weeks

February 22nd, 2008 by Travis

So much has happened since I last blogged about the Wildcats’ rise to legitimacy. I’ve been a little busy the last couple weeks, but it’s also been a very full news cycle in Cat Nation.

They finally lost — in grand fashion — to Vanderbilt. I refused to turn off the TV despite the embarrassment. I firmly believe it’s a character-building moment that will vault the Cats to loftier heights.

The legendary Dick “Hoops” Weiss first compared Cats coach Billy Gillispie to Norman Dale of Hoosiers fame while questioning if Billy G is the right fit or if he’ll even stay. To think Gillispie didn’t know what he was getting into is short-sighted. And to claim UK fans are too demanding is once again an easy call from hundreds of miles away in New York. (more…)

Posted in Blue Goggles, College Basketball, UK | 2 Comments »

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